A selection of CMN's favorite books covering the topics of capital punishment and restorative justice.
Resources
CMN has created a wide-ranging collection of resources available for download and use. Below you will find our full catalogue of resources for your parish, school, community, or personal use. CMN has resources for all age groups, including youth, teen and even the whole family.
Simply use the filters below to sort by: Age (Adult, Family, Teen, etc.), Category (Educate, Advocate, Pray), Issue (Death Penalty, Restorative Justice), Type (Fact Sheet, Workshop, Video, etc.), and/or State then click the “Filter” button to find exactly the tool you are looking for.
Based on the bestselling book of the same name by Bryan Stevenson, the film Just Mercy presents the stunning true story of Walter McMillian, a black man convicted and sentenced to death in Alabama in 1988 for a crime he did not commit. The film illustrates the structural racism endemic to our capital punishment system, and lays bare how this system devalues and cheapens all human life.
The modern death penalty system in the U.S. arose from our nation's ugly histories of slavery, lynching, and racial violence. To this day, capital punishment is unfairly applied based on race and remains the most punitive practice within a infamously racist criminal legal system.
Amid a national reckoning on racial injustice, restorative justice principles and practices can offer healing ways of addressing the deep harms of racial oppression and transforming the broken systems which give them rise.
Have you ever considered writing to someone in prison, but you don't know where to start?
In honor of Thanksgiving, we pray for a more expansive kind of gratitude.
"Let us not rush to the language of healing, before understanding the fullness of the inquiry and the depth of the wound." A prayer by Rev. Dr. Yolanda Pierce.
In November 2018, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) released its long-anticipated pastoral letter against racism, Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love. This prayer closes the letter. It is a call for Catholics and all people of goodwill to combat racial injustices with love and unity.
Each year, the U.S. Catholic Church commemorates Respect Life Month, a time for Catholics to contemplate the sanctity of life and to oppose broken systems that violate human dignity. Beginning on Respect Life Sunday (Oct. 1, 2023), Catholics across the U.S. will recommit to upholding the pro-life teachings of our church.
Visit this series of thoughtful reflection questions and supplementary resources to explore the Catholic call to uphold the sanctity of life within the U.S. criminal legal system.
Racism is a wound—one that remains unhealed in our society, as evidenced by the modern-day lynching of George Floyd on May 25, 2020 at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. Hear how Pope Francis and U.S. Bishops responded to the killing, and learn how we are called to do the same.
In November 2018, the USCCB released a pastoral letter against racism — their first in almost 40 years. Here are five important takeaways from the letter.
Taking a look at the continued opportunities for restorative justice in the Synod on Synodality.
